Ratchet pipe-wrench



W. E. BELL.

RATCHET PlPE WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 28. 1919.

1,345,983. nted ly 6, 1920.

WILLIAM E. BELL, 0.1" TULSA, OKLAEOMA, ASSIGNOR TO THE BELL VTRENGI-ICOMPANY, OF TULSA, GKLAHGMA.

RATCHET PIPE-WRENCI-I.

Application filed November 2 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, /VniLL-uvr E. BELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Tulsa, in the county of: Tulsa and State of Oklahoma, haveinvented a new and useful Ratchet l ipe-Wrench, of which the followingis a specifications.

This invention bears reference to novel and useful improvements inwrenches and more particularly to quick adjusting pipe wrenches.

Hereto'fore, a patent issued to one 13. l lVoodward No. 788,388 datedApril 25, 1905, and owned by me, disclosed the same type of wrench asconstitutes the subject of the present application. This wrench embodieda stationary jaw and a movable jaw, each having shanks and one providedwith a series of ratchet-teeth engaged by a spring actuated dog or pawl,so as to hold the jaws in adjusted relation, the jaws being alsoretained in operative relation, but the adj ustment of one aw relativeto the other could only be accomplished with much diiliculty since thepawl had to remain in contact with the ratchet-teeth at all times.-

Also, in my prior application filed July 25, 1919, under Serial No.313,301, covering the same type of wrench and endeavoring to overcomethe objection of the prior patented construction, the teeth werearranged between opposed upstanding longitudinal ribs or shoulders butthis necessitated that the device at this part be drop-forged and owingto the sharp dies required to term-the ratchet-teeth, the same wasimpractical as the dies would get dull too quickly and would require anunreasonable supply or number of dies and the expense incident theretowould be prohibitive in order to render the manufacture and sale of thewrench practical or commercial.

The present invention therefore aims to obviate and overcome the abovedilliculties by providing the jaw having the ratchetteeth withlongitudinal recesses or depres sions along the side edges of the loweraw shank outwardly of the ratchet-teeth and below the latter, andforming the heel of the pawl with side flanges cut on eccentric circlesso as to engage the bottom walls of the recesses or depressions so as tolift the pawl at its toe end from engagement with the ratchet teeth,upon the depression of the rear end of the movable jaw shank throughSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 6, 1920.

8, 1919. Serial No. 340,982.

the medium of a finger piece or thumb rest formed at sa d end tofacilitate actuation of the wrench, thus permitting the movable jaw tobe ad usted quietly and easily along the stationary jaw shank bysubstantially the same pressure exerted to cause the disengagement ofthe pawl from the *atchet teeth and while so disengaged, during whichtime said flanges will slide along the bottom walls of the recesses ordepressions, while release of pressure will permit the pawl toautomatically act to engage the ratchet-teeth and hold the movable jawagainst further movements so as to properly lit a pipe or other objectoperated on.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved means forresiliently maintaining a slight sepa ation of the jaw shanks adjacentto the stationary jaw, so as to permit necessary pivotal movement of themovable jaw shank relative to the stationary jaw shank in the aboveoperation and in such a manner as to eliminate crushing of pipes andparticularly when unscrewing old or rusted joints, and to permit quickengagement and release of the jaws with and from the work. The inventionfurther comprises a removable jaw face for the stationary aw and meanscarried by the stationary jaw and its shank and movably receiving andretaining the movable jaw shank in position, which means also serves toretain the jaw face in position and cooperates with re silient meansbetween the jaw shanks tending to normally hold them separated.

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details oi construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that within the scope of whatis claimed, changes in the precise embodiment of the invention shown canbe made without deiarting from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation partly broken away, of my improved wrench;

Fig. 2 is a fragmental side elevation partly broken away, of the wrenchand showing the parts in another position;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-43 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line ell of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a pawl employed with the device. 7

Referring to the drawing in detail, in which like reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts throughout the several views, my improvedwrench is shown as embodying a handle 10 having a shank 11 ofrectangular cross section and formed with a stationary jaw 12. This jawis formed with a transverse dove-tailed groove or key-way 13 receiving aprojection 14; of similar cross section extending transversely from aremovable toothed jaw face 15. The groove and projection extendthroughout the width of the jaw and the face so that their side facesare disposed flush and the jaw face tends downwardly and rearwardly atanacute angle from the vertical.

Cooperating with the stationary aw shank is a movable jaw shank 16 of across section corresponding to that of the stationary jaw shank 11, themovable jaw shank being formed with a jaw 17 constituting the movablejaw of the wrench, at its outer end, and having a reinforced serrated01' toothed jaw face 18 also extending at an acute angle from thevertical and divergingly from the other aw face, the jaw face 18 beingfixed or removable as desired. At the inner end of the movable jaw shankthere is formed at the bottom, a rearwardly and upwardly curvedfingerhold or thumb piece 19 adapted for depressing the movable jawshank toward the stationary jaw shank for a purpose to be hereinaftermade apparent. v

The upper edge of the jaw shank 11 is provided with a longitudinalseries of transverse ratchet-teeth or serrations 20 which terminate atspaced distances from the side faces of the shank outwardly of which thelatter are formed with longitudinal depres-v sions or recesses 21'fromthe top edge of the shank below the teeth, said recesses having smoothwalls especially at the bottom and curving upwardly at their ends tomeet the upper edge of the shank. The top edges of the teeth are in theplane with the top edge of the shank and thus, it is not onlyunnecessary to'increase the breadth of the shank, but-owing to therecesses formed as descrihed,.t]:1e teeth may be readily producedpreferably by milling the same transversely V of the shank on theportion between the re cesses, thereby obviating the objectionheretofore pointed out as a prelude to this description in reference tostamping the teeth and the troubles'and expense incident thereto. Theconstruction is greatly cheapened owing to the fact that a large numberof the shanks clamp together, can be milled simultaneously to cut orform the ratchet teeth.

Cooperating with the ratchet teeth 20 is a pawl 22 the body of which issubstantially circular and which is fitted in a correspjondingly shapedrecess 23 in the lower edge of the movable shank 16. This recess extendstransversely and communicates with the opposite edges of the shank withwhich edges or faces the ends of the pawl are flush, and the recess hasa restricted portion at the bot tom preventing the pawl from droppingout. The recess isprovided with a forward extension 2-4 between the topwall of which and the pawl is disposed a small relatively weakcompression spring 25 so as to hold the pawl at its edge or toe portionin engagement with the notches of the ratchet-teeth, the latter being soformed that their vertical walls face rcarwardly and their inclinedwalls extend forwardly so that when the pawl is engaged with the rightangular walls it will prevent the jaws from separating while servingto'pe rmit the pawl to ride over the teeth in the opposite directionwhen the movable jaw is adjusted toward the sta tionary jaw. lhe heel ofthe pawl is provided with side flanges 26 extended below theintermediate portion and cut on circles eccentric to the axis on whichthe pawl pivots so as to straddle the ratchet-teeth and when the thumbpiece 19 is depressed, it will compress the spring 25 and rock the pawlon its pivot so as to lift the toe thereof from the ratchetteeth andbring the heel flanges against the bottom walls of the recesses 21, theeccentric formation of the latter sliding in the recesses in contactwith the bottom walls thereof, raising the pawl clear of the ratchetteeth and permitting the movable jaw to be adjusted toward or away fromthe stationary jaw tosuit the particular object being operated on orwhich the wrench must be set to fit. This movement may be accomplishedby one hand while gripping the handle and engaging the thumb piece 19.At any rate, while the thumb piece, and thus the movable shank, is

so depressed, this shank may be readily adjusted on the stationary shankso as to separate the jaws for engagement with an object and uponreleasing the pressure, the jaws will be separated by the spring andproperly engage the work as the jaw faces move toward each other.

It is to be understood that the jaws are normally disposed. toward eachother when the parts are in normal position and this is facilitated byan expansible spring member or plunger 27 mounted in one of the shanks,preferably the stationary shank at the top of the jaw 12 in a recess 28provided therein so as to project without the recess and engage thebottom edge of the movable shank, thus holding the shanks normally inspaced I parallel relation. In order to limit the spac- 19 and envelopeboth shanks and has its sides disposed at the ends of the pawl so as toprevent displacement of the latter. By retaining the loop in positionthrough the medium of plugs or rivet pins 30, the loop may be removedwhen desired or necessary, in order to replace or resharpen the pawl orto replace the spring, although, this would not ordinarily be requiredwith the usual wear and tear, except after a long period of use.

The removable jaw face 15 projects beyond the sides of the stationaryjaw 12 and the projection 14 is narrower so that its ends will be flushwith the side faces of the jaw 12, and by this means the removable facecan be retained in position through the medium of an inverted U-shapedyoke 31, the sides of which are secured to the sides of the jaw 12 asindicated at 32 against the shoulders formed by the removable jaw faceand outwardly of the securing means for the latter so as to prevent thesame from becoming displaced. The bight of this yoke extends over thetop of the movable shank and the sides are also located at the sides ofthe stationary shank to which they are secured, and outwardly of thespring member 27 so as to protect and hide the latter.

From the foregoing, it is thought that the structure and operation ofthe device will be fully understood and therefore further explanation isdeemed unnecessary.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1.. A wrench comprising a fixed jaw and shank, the latter having itsupper edge provided. with ratchet teeth and shoulders at either side ofthe teeth, a movable jaw having a shank, means for movably connectingthe shanks, the shank of the movable jaw being recessed at its bottomedge and a spring actuated pawl pivoted in the recess to engage theratchet-teeth and formed with means'to engage the smooth walls of theshoulders whereby to raise the pawl from engagement with the teeth andpermit free sliding movement of the movable aw relative to the fixed jawwith the engaging means of the pawl moving along said walls.

2. A pipe wrench comprising a stationary shank having a handle and a jawformed at the end thereof opposite to the handle, a movable shank havinga jaw opposing the stationary jaw, yokes carried by the shanks to permitthe same to move relatively therein, one of the shanks being providedwith a longitudinal series of transverse serrations and a depressionoutwardly thereof, means holding the shanks in spaced relation, and apawl pivoted in the other shank to engage the serrations and having aneccentric projection adapted on the pivoted movement of the pawl to ridein the depression and disengage the pawl from the serrations to permitadjustment of the jaws relative to each other with the pawl sopositioned and out of contact with respect to the teeth of theserrations.

A wrench comprising a shank having a jaw and teeth along its top edgeand flushed with said edge, there being recesses in said edge outwardlyof the teeth and below the same, a movable shank having a jaw opposingthe stationary jaw, yokes carried by each shank and slidably receivingthe other shank, and a pawl pivoted to the movable shank and retained inposition by one of the yokes and having a top portion normally engagedwith the teeth, to hold the jaws against separation, and having its heelportion formed with curved flanges at the sides spanning the teeth andcut on circles eccentric to the pivot of the pawl to engage the bottomwalls of the recesses in contact with the inner walls thereof upondepression of the movable shank whereby the latter may be freely slid onthe stationary shank while the pawl is out of contact with respect tothe teeth.

4. A wrench comprising a shank having a jaw and teeth along its top edgeand flushed with said edge, there being recesses in said edge outwardlyof the teeth and below the same, a movable shank having a jaw opposingthe stationary jaw, yokes carried by each shank and slidably receivingthe other shank, and a movable pawl carried by the movable shank andhaving eccentrically formed flanges adapted to engage the walls of therecesses to raise the pawl from engagement with the teeth to permit freemove ment of the movable shank and jaw relative to the stationary shankand jaw.

5. A wrench comprising a handle having a shank and a jawat the endopposite the handle, a removable jaw face transversely keyed in the jawand projecting at either side to form shoulders, an inverted U-shapedyoke secured at either side of the jaw and overlying the ends of thekey, the forward edges of the yoke abutting the shoulders, a movableshank received by said yoke and having a jaw opposing the first jaw andat its opposite end a thumb piece, a yoke carried by the movable shankand engaging the other shank so as to receive the latter therethrough,and means for holding the shanks in adjusted relation.

6. A wrench comprising a handle having a shank and a jaw at the endopposite the handle, a removable jaw face transversely keyed in the jawand projecting at either side to form shoulders, an inverted U-shapedyoke secured at either side of the jaw and overlying the ends of thekey, the forward edges of the yoke abutting the shoulders, a movableshank received by said yoke and having a aw opposing the first jaw andat its opposite end a thumb piece, a yoke carried by the movable shank,and receiving the'other shank therethrough, a spring memher carried bythe jaw end of the first shank and engaging through the edge thereofwith the edge of the other shank to hold the shanks separated limited bythe yokes, the first mentioned shank having transverse serrationsforming parallel teeth and depressed walls formed out along the teeth,the other shank having a circular recess at the bottom and an extensionforwardly thereof communicating with its sides of 'theshank at the sidesof the adjacent yoke, a pawl having a circular portion pivoted in therecess and an extension to engage the teeth and flanges to engage saiddepressed Walls so as to raise the pawl from engagement with the teethupon depression of the thumb piece and a spring between the .pawl andthe wall of the extension recess holding the, pawl in an en gagedposition and cooperating with said spring member to hold the shanksnormally separated.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing asmy own, I have hereto aflixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

' WILLIAM E. BELL.

Witnesses:

JOHN E. BURCH, I. E. SIMPSON.

